Efficient service rack system

ABSTRACT

A service rack system includes a service rack and one or more totes. Each of the one or more totes have a full indicator and a refill indicator. The service rack includes front, back, right, and left sides. The service rack also includes a panel on each of the right and left sides, at least one supply rack angled towards the front side, and at least one return rack angled towards the back side. The at least one supply rack is constructed to support one or more columns of totes such that each column includes at least two totes. Each column of totes has a full state and a refill state. The full state includes at least two totes positioned such that the full indicator of one tote faces the front side. The refill state includes a tote positioned such that its refill indicator is directly adjacent the front side.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/570,398, filed on Sep. 13, 2019. The aforementioned application ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Typical vehicle maintenance visits at a vehicle service facility requirea service technician to perform discrete and repeatable maintenancetasks on a vehicle, or set of vehicles. For example, typical vehiclemaintenance may require a service technician to perform an oil change,check fluid levels, inspect or replace filters, inspect and repairtires, etc. In some instances, the performance of such maintenance tasksmay be subject to inefficiencies that cause service time delays. Becausethe maintenance tasks are performed frequently and potentially onmultiple vehicles, the service time delays can cause significantthroughput delays within a service facility.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure presents new and innovative systems for ensuringservice carts are stocked. In one aspect, a service rack system isprovided including a service rack and one or more totes. Each of the oneor more totes have a full indicator and a refill indicator. The servicerack includes a front side, a back side, a right side, and a left side.The front side is directly opposite the back side. The service rack alsoincludes a panel on each of the right and left sides, at least onesupply rack angled towards the front side, and at least one return rackangled towards the back side. The at least one supply rack isconstructed to support one or more columns of totes such that eachcolumn includes at least two totes. Each column of totes has a fullstate and a refill state. The full state includes at least two totespositioned such that the full indicator of one tote faces the frontside. The refill state includes a tote positioned such that its refillindicator is directly adjacent to the front side.

In a second aspect according to any of the previous aspects, the fullindicator is a first color and the refill indicator is a second colordifferent than the first color.

In a third aspect according to the second aspect, the panel is a thirdcolor different than the first color and the second color.

In a fourth aspect according to any of the previous aspects, the fullstate includes two totes and the totes are positioned such that the fullindicator of a first tote faces the front side and the full indicator ofa second tote faces the back side.

In a fifth aspect according to any of the previous aspects, the refillstate of a column of totes includes one tote remaining in the column oftotes.

In a sixth aspect according to any of the previous aspects, the at leastone return rack is constructed to support one or more columns of totes.

In a seventh aspect according to any of the previous aspects, the atleast one supply rack and the at least on return rack include one ormore adjustable rollers.

In an eighth aspect according to any of the previous aspects, the atleast one supply rack or the at least one return rack include dividersseparating each of the one or more columns.

In a ninth aspect according to any of the previous aspects, the at leastone supply rack is angled to cause totes located on the at least onesupply rack to move towards the front side and the at least one returnrack is angled to cause totes located on the at least one return rack tomove towards the back side.

In a tenth aspect, a service rack system is provided including a servicerack and one or more totes. The service rack includes a front side, aback side, a right side, and a left side. The front side is directlyopposite the back side. The service rack also includes at least onesupply rack angled towards the front side that includes one or moreadjustable rollers, and at least one return rack angled towards the backside that includes one or more adjustable rollers. The one or more toteseach include at least a full indicator and a refill indicator. The oneor more totes are positioned on the at least one supply rack in one ormore columns that each include at least two totes. The totes in eachcolumn are positioned in one of a full state and a refill state. Thefull state includes at least two totes positioned such that the fullindicator of one tote faces the front side. The refill state includesone tote positioned such that its refill indicator is directly adjacentto the front side.

In an eleventh aspect according to the tenth aspect, the service rackincludes a panel on each of the right side and the left side of theservice rack.

In a twelfth aspect according to any of the tenth to eleventh aspects,the full indicator is a first color and the refill indicator is a secondcolor different than the first color.

In a thirteenth aspect according to any of the tenth to twelfth aspects,the full state includes two totes, and the totes are positioned suchthat the full indicator of a first tote faces the front side and thefull indicator of a second tote faces the back side.

In a fourteenth aspect according to any of the tenth to thirteenthaspects, the refill state of a column of totes includes one toteremaining in the column of totes.

In a fifteenth aspect according to any of the tenth to fourteenthaspects, the at least one supply rack or the at least one return rackincludes dividers separating each of the one or more columns.

In a sixteenth aspect according to any of the tenth to fifteenthaspects, the at least one supply rack is angled to cause totes locatedon the at least one supply rack to move towards the front side and theat least one return rack is angled to cause totes located on the atleast one return rack to move towards the back side.

In a seventeenth aspect, a method is provided which includes receivingvehicle fleet data specifying the types of vehicles operating in avehicle fleet. The method also includes determining, based on thevehicle fleet data, a distribution of vehicle models in the vehiclefleet, and identifying, based on the distribution of vehicle models,vehicle models that are most common in the vehicle fleet. The methodalso includes identifying service items compatible with the vehiclemodels that are most common in the vehicle fleet, and identifying, fromamong the service items compatible with the vehicle models that are mostcommon in the vehicle fleet, service items for storage on a servicerack.

In an eighteenth aspect according to the seventeenth aspect, the serviceitems for storage on the service rack are also selected to correspond tomaintenance tasks that are most frequently performed on vehicles in thevehicle fleet.

The features and advantages described herein are not all-inclusive and,in particular, many additional features and advantages will be apparentto one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the figures anddescription. Moreover, it should be noted that the language used in thespecification has been principally selected for readability andinstructional purposes, and not to limit the scope of the disclosedsubject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates a service facility according to an example of thepresent disclosure.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a perspective and front view, respectively,of an empty service rack according to an example of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a front view of a service rack with totes anda side view along plane A-A′, respectively, according to an example ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate individual supply racks constructed to fitmore than two totes, according to an example of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a perspective view and side view,respectively, of an empty tote according to an example of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate two aspects of a service station according toan example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a service facility according to an example of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of a service rack with dividersaccording to an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of a service rack with spacedapart rollers according to an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of a service rack with panelsaccording to an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 depicts a method according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Service facility efficiency may be essential to keep pace with changesin vehicle technology. For example, as vehicle technology advances andbecomes more sophisticated, transportation providers may be unaware ofhow their vehicles actually function and, as a result, transportationproviders may be unable to provide specific information to a servicetechnician with respect to any particular problems their vehicle iscurrently experiencing. Thus, service technicians may perform multiplemaintenance tasks on a vehicle in an attempt to rule out certain causesof the problems and/or to detect problems that the transportationprovider may not have identified or otherwise noticed. Performingmultiple maintenance tasks on a vehicle in an attempt to resolve currentmaintenance problems and prevent potential maintenance problems is astrategy often used by organizations that rely on fleets of cars foroperation. For example, transportation network companies (TNCs) rely onfleets of cars that are used to service transportation requests (e.g.,rideshare requests). A vehicle associated with the TNC may be brought infor servicing without any preliminary technical understanding of themaintenance issues the vehicle may be experiencing. Thus, a TNC maysystematically perform multiple maintenance tasks on the vehicle in anattempt to identify maintenance issues. While the vehicle is beingserviced by the TNC, the vehicle is not available to servicetransportation requests in the transportation network.

Accordingly, any reduction in time spent servicing TNC vehicles mayresult in additional fleet capacity for the TNC (i.e., the vehicle canspend more time on the road servicing transportation requests).Furthermore, reductions in service times at a service facility mayincrease the frequency with which vehicle operators (e.g.,transportation providers) bring a vehicle to a service facility forservicing (e.g., a driver may be incentivized to service the vehiclebecause it will not take an extreme amount of time to do so), allowingfor continuous maintenance to be performed on the vehicle. Performingcontinuous and rapid maintenance tasks on the vehicle may increaselong-term vehicle reliability of the vehicle because future vehicleproblems may be avoided.

Maintenance efficiency problems may be even more evident for fleets ofautonomous vehicles (AVs). For example, as more rideshare requests areserviced by AVs, TNCs may cultivate AV fleets. Because AVs do not havetransportation providers, there is no individual who can providefeedback on the current operation of the vehicle outside of theinformation available from vehicle's pre-installed sensors. Therefore,when servicing AVs, maintenance personnel may have to perform an evenmore rigorous set of maintenance tasks w to identify problems and todetermine the causes of identified problems.

For example, in a typical vehicle service scenario, service personnelmay discuss problems associated with the vehicle being serviced toidentify any known problems that the service personnel should address,in addition to performing standard maintenance servicing. For example, adriver may request oil change but may explain to a service technicianthat one of the tire assemblies vibrates at high speeds. In response,service personnel may inspect the tire assembly in addition to servicingthe vehicle (e.g., performing the oil change). If a problem isidentified, the service personnel may formulate a repair to resolve theissue, which may require waiting for replacement parts for the tireassembly. Once the tire assembly is repaired, the service technician maytest drive the vehicle to verify the repair and, upon completion of theservicing, the driver may pick up their vehicle.

For AVs, since there is no driver to identify additional issues with thevehicle, the service personnel may have to perform additionalmaintenance tasks on a regular basis to identify potential maintenanceproblems. For example, rather than relying on a driver to identify thata tire assembly is vibrating at high speeds before inspecting a tireassembly, AV service personnel may routinely perform the tire assemblyinspection. In the context of TNC fleets of AVs, AV service personnelmay inspect the vehicle's tire assemblies during regular maintenancevisits, in addition to performing other maintenance tasks.

Vehicle fleet operators such as TNCs may also incorporate additionalmaintenance tasks for preventative purposes, even for vehicles that arenot autonomous. For example, if the tire assemblies are inspected ateach maintenance visit, potential problems with the tire assemblies maybe detected and repaired before the tire assembly becomes a more seriousmaintenance issue. Such preventative maintenance may increase vehicleuptime for the TNCs and may allow transportation providers to continueoperating their vehicles more often and/or for longer periods of time.Furthermore, as the size of vehicle fleets grows, there may be greaterpressure on service facilities to process a greater number of vehiclesin the same amount of time, which increases the need to performmaintenance tasks (e.g., preventative and/or standard maintenance tasks)in a time-efficient manner. Accordingly, there exists a need to expeditethe performance of maintenance tasks on vehicles that are servicedwithin a service facility.

Another factor contributing to inefficiencies with regard to maintenancetasks is ensuring service technicians have the necessary service items(e.g., tools, parts, consumables, equipment, etc.) for completing anygiven maintenance task, so that the service technicians do not have tospend significant amounts of time locating the necessary service items.As used throughout this disclosure, service items may refer to any tool,part, consumable, equipment, etc. that a service technician may need toperform a maintenance task on a vehicle. Such tools may be wrenches,sockets, tire irons, and other tooling used for vehicle maintenance.Such parts may be drain plugs, lug nuts, hex bolts, oil caps, O-rings,air filters, oil filters, fuel filters, and other vehicular parts.Consumables may be automobile oil, transmission fluid, battery cleaner,brake cleaner, and other chemicals, fluids, etc., used for and/or duringthe performance of maintenance tasks. Equipment may be gloves, earplugs, face masks, and/or other personal safety items a servicetechnician may need to complete a service task.

For instance, when a vehicle arrives for at a service facility formaintenance, a service technician either already knows the maintenancetask that is required (e.g., from a repair order) or must perform adiagnostic to identify a needed maintenance task. Once the maintenancetask is determined, the service technician must obtain the necessaryservice items for the task that are compatible with the specific vehicle(e.g., model or type) being serviced. For example, the servicetechnician may need to change the transmission fluid in the vehicle andthus must obtain transmission fluid, or the service technician may needto obtain a wrench and bolt to replace a bolt on a wheel. If thenecessary service items are not nearby, the service technician may haveto walk across a service facility to obtain the service items fromanother location, such as a parts storage location or room, whichultimately lengthens the time required to perform and complete themaintenance task. In some instances, the service technician may not knowwhere to find a particular service item, thus further increasing thetime required to perform the maintenance task. Because most, if not all,maintenance tasks require at least one service item, any decrease in theamount of time required for a service technician to obtain the necessaryservice items may drastically improve a service facility's ability toservice more vehicles and thereby improve the overall performance of theservice facility.

One solution to the problem described above is to establish a servicefacility that effectively divides maintenance tasks into subgroups thatcan be performed at different stations located within the servicefacility. For example, FIG. 1 depicts a service facility 100 includingservice stations 20, 30 servicing separate vehicles 10, 12. Each servicestation 20, 30 may correspond to the performance of differentmaintenance tasks. For example, service station 20 may correspond toperforming maintenance tasks related to fluids (e.g., changing the oil,checking transmission fluid). Service station 30 may correspond toperforming inspections and repairs of tire assemblies. As servicing iscomplete at one station 20, 30, the vehicles 10, 12 may move to the nextstation. For example, after vehicle 10 has its oil changed at station20, the vehicle 10 may proceed to service station 30 for tire assemblyinspection.

Each service station 20, 30 may require separate service items forperforming the maintenance tasks corresponding to the respectivestation. For example, the service station 20 includes a rack 26 storingfluids which may be replaced during maintenance, along with fluid lines24, which may route to larger tanks of fluids (e.g., different types ofoil) that are commonly replaced during maintenance of a vehicle.Similarly, service station 30 includes a compressed air line 34, whichmay be used to refill tires (e.g., to a desired tire pressure). Bothservice stations 20, 30 also include a tool cart 22, 36 respectively.These tool carts 22, 36 may contain certain service items necessary forperforming the maintenance tasks at service station 20, 30. For example,the tool cart 22 may include tools such as wrenches or sockets in commonsizes necessary to loosen drain plugs on oil pans, and may also includereplacement drain plugs for a variety of vehicles. As another example,the tool cart 36 may include filters (e.g., fuel filters or oil filters)for replacing old filters on vehicles. Each service station 20, 30 alsoincludes a lift 28, 32 for use in performing maintenance tasks onvehicles, although other service stations that are not depicted may notinclude a lift in certain instances.

Even though efficiency may increase by separating the maintenance tasksinto different service stations 20, 30, the performance of certainmaintenance tasks may still be improved. For example, in some instances,a tool cart 22, 36 may run out of a certain service item, causing theservice technician t to spend time retrieving the service item thatcould have otherwise been spent performing maintenance tasks. Thus, thetime that it takes to obtain the necessary service item increases theamount of time it takes to complete the maintenance task, andaccordingly limits efficiency. One solution to this problem is forservice technicians to notify a service facility worker when aparticular service item in the tool cart 22, 36 is low so that theservice facility worker can restock the particular service item prior toit running out. However, a service technician may easily forget tonotify a service facility worker, and they may easily forget to restockthe service item. Additionally, notifying the service facility worker torestock service items consumes time that a service technician couldinstead spend performing maintenance tasks.

Another solution is for the service facility worker to periodicallycheck the levels of all the service items in the tool carts 22, 36 andrestock the service items that are low. However, different service itemsare used at different rates, sometimes unpredictably, and thus serviceitems may run out between instances in which the service facility workerchecks the service item levels. Additionally, the service facilityworker may check the tool carts 22, 36 and see that none of the serviceitems are running low, causing the service facility technician to wastetime. Furthermore, such a process is inefficient because the tool carts22, 36 are only accessible from a single side, and each drawer must beinspected individually. Such configurations require the service facilitytechnician to intervene in the performance of maintenance tasks by theservice technician, further reducing the efficiency of performedmaintenance tasks.

To solve these technical problems, among others, the present disclosureprovides a service rack system that can be utilized to efficientlyensure that service technicians have the necessary service items attheir disposal to perform maintenance tasks in a time-efficient manner.The service rack system may include a service rack with multiple racksand multiple totes positioned on the multiple racks. The multiple totesmay contain various service items. Some of the multiple racks may beangled towards the front side of the service rack and some of the racksmay be angled towards the back side of the service rack. Each of thetotes may include two indicators, the first indicator indicating thatthe supply of the respective service items is full, or sufficientlyfull, and the second indicator indicating that a refill is needed forthe respective service item. Accordingly, the totes may be positioned onthe racks angled to the front side such that when the racks are full anda service technician views a service rack from its front side, theservice technician sees only the first indicator of each tote at theservice rack's front side.

When a tote is empty, a service technician may remove it from its rack,which causes a full tote behind the empty tote to move into the emptytote's place due to the rack's angle toward the front side of theservice rack. In some examples, the full tote may be positioned on therack such that the service technician sees its second indicator at therack's front side, thus indicating to the service technician that theservice items corresponding to or otherwise associated with the toteneed a refill. The service technician may place the empty tote on a rackangled to the back side with the tote's second indicator facing the backside. Thus, when a service facility worker views the service rack fromits back side, the worker knows one or more service items need refillingin the event the worker can see the second indicator of any totes.Accordingly, the technician may refill the empty totes and place themback on a rack angled to the front side before the service technicianruns out of any service item.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a service rack 200 according to an example ofthe present disclosure. The service rack 200 may include at least onesupply rack 210 and at least one return rack 220. For instance, theservice rack 200 is shown as having four supply racks 210 and one returnrack 220. In other instances, however, the service rack 200 may includemore or less supply racks 210 and/or more return racks 220. In someexamples, the service rack 200 is configured top of the service rack 200is located at a height from the ground that does not interfere with thevision across the service facility for a majority of people (e.g., theservice rack 200 does not block a line of sight). For instance, theservice rack 200 may be no more than four and a half feet tall in someexamples given that a majority of people may see over such a servicerack 200. In such implementations, the service rack 200 may allow thoseworking in the service facility to visually survey the service facility(e.g., see a tote's second indicator on a service rack from across thefacility) and thus enhance efficiency.

As depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, each of the supply racks 210 is angledtowards the front side of the service rack 200 and the return rack 220is angled in the opposite direction towards the back side of the servicerack 200 (will be additionally depicted and explained in furtherfigures). In some examples, each of the supply racks 210 and returnracks 220 include multiple rollers 230, which will be described in moredetail below. In some examples, the service rack 200 may also includewheels 240A-D (wheel 240D not depicted). The wheels 240A-D may enableeasier movement of the service rack 200. For example, the service rack200 may be moved from service station 20 to service station 30, forexample if/when the service item requirements of the stations change.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a service rack system 300 that includes aservice rack 200 and multiple totes 310, according to an example of thepresent disclosure. In particular, FIG. 3B illustrates a side view ofthe service rack system 300 at the plane A-A′ designated in FIG. 3A.Each of the totes 310 is constructed to hold one or more of variousservice items. For clarity, only a single tote 310 is labeled, butreferences to totes 310 should be understood to refer to any suchdepicted tote. The totes 310 are positioned on the supply racks 210 inmultiple columns and at least two rows. For instance, the totes 310 arepositioned in columns r-z and rows g, h in the example service racksystem 300. Accordingly, FIG. 3B depicts a side view of column v of theservice rack system 300 along plane A-A′. In some examples, each columnr-z is dedicated to a particular service item, and thus each tote 310 ina specific column (e.g., two totes 310 if there are two rows) holds oneor more of the particular service item. In some examples, each tote 310may be labeled with the name of the particular service item the tote issupposed to hold. A column of totes 310 may either be in a full state ora refill state, which will be described in more detail below.

In various examples of the present disclosure, each of the totes 310includes a full indicator 320 (e.g., first indicator) and a refillindicator 330 (e.g., second indicator). The full indicator 320 mayindicate that there is a sufficient amount of the particular serviceitem associated with a column of totes 310 on the supply rack 210. Therefill indicator 330 may indicate that there is not a sufficient amount,and further, that the particular service item associated with the columnof totes 310 needs to be refilled. In some examples, the full indicator320 may be a first color (e.g., blue) such that a portion of a tote 310is the first color, and the refill indicator 330 may be a second,different color (e.g., orange) such that the remaining portion of thetote 310 is the second color. In some examples, the two colors aredistinctly different such that they may be quickly differentiated (e.g.,orange and blue, red and green). The two different colors are depictedin the accompanying figures by two different shading patterns on thetotes 310. In other examples, color associated with the full indicator320 and the color associated with the refill indicator 330 color maycollectively cover a portion of the tote 310 less than the entirety ofthe tote 310 (e.g., only the front and back, respectively). In otherexamples, the full and refill indicators 320, 330 may be distinctivevisual indications other than colors, for instance, text, lights,images, tote design, visual patterns, etc.

In at least one example of the present disclosure, the service racksystem 300 may additionally include optical sensors on the service rack200. The optical sensors may be configured to detect the color of asurface. In the at least one example, the optical sensors may bepositioned on the service rack 200 such that they sense the surfacecolor of the portion of each of the totes 310 that is adjacent to thefront side of a supply rack 210 and/or adjacent to the back side of areturn rack 220. Accordingly, when the optical sensors detect that thecolor of the refill indicator 330 is present, the optical sensors maycause an action to be triggered. For instance, the optical sensors maylight up, may cause the service rack 200 to light up, or may cause anempty tote 310 to light up when detecting the refill indicator 330color. In other instances, as will be described in more detail below,the optical sensors may send a signal to an automated robot whendetecting the refill indicator 330 color, thus causing the automatedrobot to activate and refill an empty tote 310.

In at least one example of the present disclosure, the service racksystem 300 may additionally include radio frequency identification(“RFID”) sensors, such as a virtual wall, and the service items in thetotes 310 may include RFID tags. Accordingly, the RFID sensors (e.g.,virtual wall) may detect service items being used and may causeadditional service items to be ordered when the remaining service itemsreach a certain threshold. In some instances, the virtual wall may spanthe entire front side of the service rack 200, the entire rear side ofthe service rack 200, and/or may span across each side of the servicerack 200.

In various aspects, the totes 310 may be positioned on the supply racks210 and return racks 220 based on their indicators 320, 330. As will befurther described below, the tote 310 positioning provides visualindications to those working in a service facility as to the state ofthe supply of various service items on the service rack 200. A servicerack 200 may be considered full when there is a tote 310 in every columnand every row on each of the supply racks 210, or when there is a totein every column and every row of the supply racks in which a part isintended to be stored. In some examples, when a service rack 200 isfull, there are no totes 310 on any return rack 230 of the full servicerack 200. The totes 310 on a full service rack 200 may be positionedsuch that each of the totes 310 adjacent to the front side of theservice rack 200 (e.g., row h in FIG. 3B) has its full indicator 320facing towards the front side of the service rack 200 (e.g., the frontside of the supply rack 210 the tote 310 is on). Accordingly, when aservice technician or other person views a full service rack 200 fromthe front, they will primarily see only the full indicator 320 of eachtote 310, and will primarily not see the refill indicator 330 of anytote 310. In addition, the totes 310 on a full service rack 200 may bepositioned such that each of the totes 310 closest to the back side ofthe service rack 200 (e.g., row g in FIG. 3B) has its full indicator 320facing towards the back side of the service rack 200. Accordingly, whena service facility worker or other person views a full service rack 200from the back, they will primarily see only the full indicator 320 ofeach tote 310, and will primarily not see the refill indicator 330 ofany tote 310. Therefore, a column of totes 310 on a respective supplyrack 210 is in a full state when there are at least two totes 310 in thecolumn, the tote 310 adjacent to the front side of the service rack 200has its full indicator 320 facing towards the front side, and the tote310 closest to the back side of the service rack 200 has its fullindicator 320 facing towards the back side.

In some examples of the present disclosure, such as the illustratedexamples, the service rack 200 is constructed such that its respectivesupply racks 210 fit two rows of totes 310. The respective return racks220 may also fit two rows or may fit other numbers of rows (e.g., 1 or3). In such examples, in accordance with the description in thepreceding paragraph, the two totes 310 in the same column on the samesupply rack 210 of a full service rack 200 are positioned such thattheir respective refill indicators 330 face one another. Thus, when thefront side tote 310 is removed from the supply rack 210, the back sidetote 310 moves forward to take its place and the back side tote 310 thenaccordingly has its refill indicator 330 facing towards the front sideof the supply rack 210 (e.g., the front side of the service rack 200).Such a column of totes 310 is therefore in a refill state because a tote310 in the column has its refill indicator 330 adjacent to the frontside of the supply rack 210. When the front side tote 310 is removed,due its initial orientation on the supply rack 210, the front side tote310 may be placed on the return rack 220 with its refill indicator 330facing towards the back side of the return rack 220 (e.g., the back sideof the service rack 200). For instance, the tote 314 is illustrated inFIGS. 3A and 3B as having been removed from column v on the secondsupply rack 210 from the top and subsequently placed on the return rack220 with its refill indicator 330 adjacent to the back side of thereturn rack 220. Accordingly, the tote 312 is illustrated as havingmoved forward to take the place of the tote 314, and the tote 312 hasits refill indicator 330 adjacent to the front side of the supply rack210.

Therefore, in this way, when the example service rack system 300 isviewed from the front as illustrated, the refill indicator 330 of thetote 312 is visible, thus indicating that the service items associatedwith the totes 312, 314 are low on the service rack 200. In addition,the refill indicator 330 of the tote 314 is visible when the exampleservice rack system 300 is viewed from the back. Therefore, no matter ifthe service rack system 300 is viewed from the front or the back, thoseworking in the service facility may be able to see the refill indicator330 and can accordingly restock the service items of the respective tote310 before the service rack system 300 runs out of that service item.

In other aspects of the present disclosure, the service rack 200 isconstructed such that its respective supply racks 210 fit more than tworows of totes 310. In such examples, the one or more return racks 220may fit the same number of rows as the corresponding supply racks 210 ormay fit a different number of rows. In some examples in which the supplyracks 210 fit more than two rows, the totes 310 in the middle of thefront side tote 310 and the back side tote 310 may be positioned in thesame manner as the front side tote 310. For instance, as illustrated inFIG. 4A on the example supply rack 410, the totes 404 and 406 are in themiddle of the front side tote 402 and the back side tote 408, and arepositioned with their respective full indicators 320 and refillindicators 330 in the same manner as the front side tote 402. Forclarity, the full and refill indicators 320 and 330 are only labeled onthe tote 402; however, they are consistent with the shading patternsamong the totes 404-408 indicating that the totes 404-408 includesimilar indicators. Accordingly, when the tote 402 is removed from thesupply rack 410 and the tote 404 moves forward to replace it, the tote404 has its full indicator 320 adjacent to the front side of the supplyrack 410. Similarly, when the tote 404 is removed and the tote 406 movesto replace it, the tote 406 has its full indicator 320 adjacent to thefront side of the supply rack 410. However, when the tote 406 is removedand the back side tote 408 reaches the front side of the supply rack210, the tote 408 has its refill indicator 330 adjacent to the frontside indicating to those in the service facility that the service itemsin the respective column need to be refilled. The removed totes 402-406may be placed on the return rack 220 consistent with the precedingdescription to indicate to those viewing the service rack system 300from behind, of which the example supply rack 410 is a part, that theservice items need to be refilled.

In other examples in which the supply racks 210 fit more than two rows,it may be desired to indicate to those in the service facility that aparticular service item needs to be refilled prior to the back side tote310 reaching the front side of the supply rack 210. In such instances,one or more of the middle totes 310 may be positioned in the same manneras the back side tote 310. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 4B onthe example supply rack 410, the tote 406 is positioned with its fullindicator 320 and refill indicator 330 in the same manner as the backside tote 408. Accordingly, when the tote 402 is removed from the supplyrack 410 and the tote 404 moves to replace it, the tote 404 has its fullindicator 320 adjacent to the front side of the supply rack 410.However, in contrast to the example illustrated in FIG. 4A, when thetote 404 is removed and the tote 406 moves to replace it, the tote 406has its refill indicator 330 adjacent to the front side of the supplyrack 410. Therefore, it is indicated to those in the service facilitythat the service items in the respective column need to be refilled whenthere are still the two totes 406 and 408 on the supply rack 410. Again,the removed totes 402, 404 may be placed on the return rack 220 toindicate to those viewing the service rack system 300 from behind (ofwhich the example supply rack 410 is a part) that the respective serviceitems need to be refilled. Accordingly, the indication being made withtwo full totes 406, 408 remaining on the supply rack 410 may provideadditional time for those in the service facility to refill therespective service items prior to the service rack system 300 runningout of the respective service item, as compared to the example describedin FIG. 4A. Thus, efficiency and/or supply level resiliency may beincreased in such configurations.

As described above in connection with multiple examples, a tote 310 maymove on its respective supply rack 210 or return rack 220. For instance,a tote 310 may move when a tote 310 in front of it is removed, or whenthe tote 310 is placed on the supply rack 210 or the return rack 220without a tote 310 in front of it. The totes 310 may move due to theangle of the supply racks 210 and return racks 220 that cause the totes310 to have a tendency to move towards the lowest part of its respectivesupply rack 210 or return rack 220 due to gravitational forces. Forexample, the totes 310 on supply racks 210 have a tendency to movetowards the front side of the service rack 300 and the totes 310 onreturn racks 220 have a tendency to move towards the back side of theservice rack 300. In some examples of the present disclosure, thesurface of each of the supply racks 210 and return racks 220 may helpfacilitate the totes 310 moving. For instance, the surface of each mayhave a low coefficient of friction (e.g., a slick surface) such that thetotes 310 may slide along the surface due to only gravitational forces.In other examples, each of the supply racks 210 and return racks 220 mayhave multiple rollers 230 that rotate as the totes 310 move over them inaccordance with gravitational forces. The rollers 230 may reduce slidingforces on the bottom of the totes 310 even further, and thus may prolongthe life of the totes 310 before needing to be replaced.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate perspective and side views of a tote 310,according to an example of the present disclosure. As described above,the tote 310 includes a full indicator 320 and a refill indicator 330,which each may be a color over a portion of the tote 310. In variousexamples, each tote 310 may also include a label at location 500, thelabel designating which service items are in the respective tote 310. Inother examples, each tote 310 may include a label at a differentlocation. The label may be text, an image, a color, or anotherdesignation for specifying the service items stored or intended forstorage in the tote. Each tote 310 is constructed to hold one or moreservice items, and thus may have any suitable design that enables thetote 310 to both hold one or more service items, and be positioned onthe supply racks 210 and return racks 220 as described above.Accordingly, the illustrated design of the tote 310 is merely oneexample. In some examples of the present disclosure, there may be totes310 of different sizes and designs utilized on the same service rack200.

FIG. 6A depicts one example of a service station 600 in which a servicetechnician 602 is performing a maintenance task on a vehicle 12 and aservice facility worker 604 is placing a refilled tote 610 on a servicerack system 300. The service technician 602 is at the front side of theservice rack system 300 and the service facility worker 604 is at theback side of the service rack system 300. For instance, the servicetechnician 602 may have previously used all of the service items in thetote 610 and placed an empty tote 610 on the return rack 220 with itsrefill indicator 330 facing the back side. The tote 612 therefore movedforward with its refill indicator 330 adjacent to the front side. Theservice facility worker 604 may have then seen the refill indicator 330of either the tote 610 or the tote 612 and accordingly took the emptytote 610 to refill it. FIG. 6A illustrates the service facility worker604 placing the refilled tote 610 back on the service rack 200 on itsrespective supply rack 210 at its respective column.

In some aspects of the present disclosure, the service facility worker604 may place the refilled tote 610 on the supply rack 210 such that itsfull indicator 320 faces towards the front side of the supply rack 210.Accordingly, in such instances, when the tote 612 is removed andrefilled, the tote 610 will move forward and its full indicator 320 willbe adjacent to the front side. This aspect is illustrated in FIG. 6A. Inother aspects of the present disclosure, the service facility worker 604may place the refilled tote 610 on the supply rack 210 such that itsrefill indicator 230 faces towards the front side of the service cart300 and also may position the tote 612 such that its full indicator 220is adjacent to the front side of the service cart 300. Accordingly, inthis way, the service facility worker 604, after refilling the tote 610,positions the totes 610 and 612 to reflect that their respective columnis in a full state.

FIG. 6B illustrates another example of the service station 600 in whicha service technician 602 is performing a maintenance task on a vehicle12 and an automated service robot 620 refills and replaces the tote 610on the supply rack 210. The automated service robot 620 may be inaddition to or may replace the service facility worker 604 in variousinstances. In some examples, the automated service robot 620 may includean arm with multiple links and joints and a gripper for gripping items,such as the totes 610 and 612. In other examples, the automated servicerobot 620 may have other suitable configurations for retrieving emptytotes 310 from a return rack 220, refilling the empty tote 310, andplacing the refilled tote 310 on a supply rack 210.

In some examples, a service facility worker 604, service technician 602,or other person may trigger the automated service robot 620 to cause itto retrieve and refill totes 310, for example, by pressing a button. Inother examples, the automated service robot 620 may be automaticallyactivated. For instance, in examples in which the service rack 200includes optical sensors as described above, the optical sensors maysend a signal to the automated service robot 620 upon detecting a refillindicator 330, the signal activating the automated service robot 620.

In some instances, such as that illustrated in FIG. 6B, the automatedservice robot 620 may retrieve an empty tote 610 from a return rack 220,with its refill indicator 330 adjacent the back side of the return rack220, and may then raise the empty tote 610 and place it on itsrespective supply rack 210 with its refill indicator 330 facing thefront side of the supply rack 210. The automated service robot 620 maythen refill the tote 610 with service items when the tote 610 is on thesupply rack 210, in such instances. For example, the automated servicerobot 620 may obtain service items directly from a truck and place themin the tote 610 on the supply rack 210. In other instances, theautomated service robot 620 may retrieve an empty tote 610 from a returnrack 220 and transport it to another area in the service facility torefill the tote 610 with service items. For example, the automatedservice robot 620 may transport the tote 610 to an area by a truckcontaining service items and may refill the tote 610 with service itemsdirectly from the truck. The automated service robot 620 may thentransport and place the refilled tote 610 on its respective supply rack210.

The service station 600 may be located in a service facility similar tothe service facility 100. For example, FIG. 7 illustrates a servicefacility 700 including two service stations 600, each with a servicerack system 300. The service facility 700 also includes the othercomponents described in connection with the service facility 100.Accordingly, the service rack systems 300 can be used to enhance thestation-based maintenance facilities discussed above, further improvingservice times and overall facility throughput as increasingly necessaryto servicing vehicles and vehicle fleets.

In addition to the above discussed and illustrated examples of theservice rack 200, further examples may also be utilized. For example,FIG. 8 illustrates an example service rack 800 that includes dividers802 on each of the supply racks 810. The dividers 802 may delineate eachof the columns of totes 310, and accordingly may enhance theorganization of the totes 310 on the supply racks 810. In some examples,the one or more return racks 820 may also have dividers 802. Inaddition, the supply racks 810 are illustrated as having a slick surface804 (e.g., a surface having a low coefficient of friction) as describedabove. The return rack 820 is illustrated as having rollers 230. Inother examples, the return rack 820 may also have a slick surface 804.In other examples, the supply racks 810 may have rollers 230 and thereturn rack may have a slick surface 804.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example service rack 900 with adjustable rollers230. For instance, the supply rack 910 is shown as having rollers 230spaced apart with a gap P in between each individual strip of rollers230. In comparison, the supply rack 912 is shown as having rollers 230spaced apart with a gap Q in between each individual strip of rollers230. In addition, the supply rack 910 has eight strips of rollers 230whereas the supply rack 912 has four strips of rollers 230, thusindicating that in some instances the strips of rollers 230 may beremovable. The adjustability of the rollers 230 may help reduce materialcosts for a service facility. For instance, larger totes 310 or otheritems may be larger than the gap Q and thus may move on two adjacentrollers 230 while remaining on the supply rack 912. A tote 310 or otheritem narrower than the gap Q would fall through the gap or would have tobalance on one strip of rollers 230, thus such totes 310 or othersmaller items require rollers 230 with narrower gaps in between, such asthe gap P in the supply rack 910. Accordingly, for the larger items,fewer strips of rollers 230 are required and can be used elsewhere, suchas other supply racks or other service racks, thus helping reducematerial costs for the service facility.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example service rack 1000 with a panel 1002 oneach of the left side and the right side of the service rack 1000. Insome examples, each panel 1002 may be opaque and may be any color. Insome examples, each panel 1002 may be a color that is different than afull indicator 320 color and a refill indicator 330 color in order tocreate contrast between the three colors. For instance, each panel 1002may be white, while the full indicator 320 is blue and the refillindicator 330 is orange. The panels 1002 may prevent a line of sight tothe totes 310 when viewing a service rack system 300 from the side. Forinstance, viewing a service rack system 300 without panels 1002 from theside (e.g., FIG. 6) results in seeing both the full indicators 320 andthe refill indicators 330 of each of the totes 310 on the service rack200. Conversely, viewing the service rack 1000 with panels 1002 from theside results in seeing only a panel 1002. Accordingly, the fullindicators 320 and refill indicators 330 of the totes 310 on the servicerack 1000 may only be viewed from the front or back of the service rack1000. The effect of the panels 1002, therefore, is that those in theservice facility will primarily only see a refill indicator 330 of atote 310 if a tote 310 needs to be refilled, rather than sometimesseeing a refill indicator 330 from the side even though the service racksystem 300 is full. As such, when a refill indicator 330 is visible, itwill always indicate a problem with the respective service rack system300 and service items that must be refilled. Efficiency may accordinglybe improved.

FIG. 11 depicts a method 1100 according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The method 1100 may be performed to identify andselect service items for storage within service racks 200, 800, 900,1000. In particular, the method 1100 may be performed to select theservice items stored in the totes 310, 402, 404, 406, 408, 500, 610,612. The method 1100 may be implemented by a computer system, such as acomputer system containing a processor and a memory. The method 1100 mayalso be implemented by a set of instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium that, when executed by a processor, cause thecomputer system to perform the method. Although the examples below aredescribed with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 11, manyother methods of performing the acts associated with FIG. 11 may becombined with other blocks, one or more of the blocks may be repeated,and some of the blocks described may be optional.

The method 1100 begins with receiving vehicle fleet data (block 1102).The vehicle fleet data may specify the types of vehicles that operate ina given fleet (e.g., vehicles providing services in connection with aTNC). In particular, the vehicle fleet data may specify the make andmodel of vehicles operating in the vehicle fleet. Based on this data, adistribution of vehicle models may be determined (block 1104). Forexample, the vehicle fleet data may be analyzed to determine how many ofeach vehicle model operate in the vehicle fleet. In particular, thedistribution of vehicle models may indicate a percentage of vehicleseach vehicle model represents within the vehicle fleet. The most commonvehicle models may then be identified (block 1106). For example, themost common vehicle models may be identified within the distribution ofvehicle models. In certain implementations, the most common vehiclemodels may be selected as a predetermined number of most common vehicles(e.g., the 10, 20, or 50 most common vehicle models). In otherimplementations, the most common vehicle models may be selected torepresent a certain percentage of vehicles in the vehicle fleet (e.g.,the most common vehicle models that represent 50%, 75%, 90%, 95% of thevehicles in the vehicle fleet). In certain implementations, the vehiclefleet data may specify a year of manufacture for the vehicles in thevehicle fleet. In such instances, the distribution of vehicle models andthe most common vehicle models may also specify the year of manufacturefor their respective vehicle models.

Service items may then be identified that are compatible with the mostcommon vehicle models (block 1108). For example, service item data maybe analyzed that specifies which types of vehicle models the serviceitems are compatible with. In certain instances, service items may becompatible with more than one type of vehicle or vehicle model.Similarly, in certain instances, certain vehicle models may becompatible with more than one of the same type of service item. Theservice items for storage may then be selected from among the serviceitems that are compatible with the most common vehicle models (block1110). For example, the service items may be selected to reduce thetotal number of individual types of service items, and therefore totes310, 402, 404, 406, 408, 500, 610, 612, on the service racks 200, 800,900, 1000. In particular, service items may be preferentially selectedwhere possible that are compatible with more than one of the most commonvehicle models. As another example, the service items may be selected torepresent the most common maintenance tasks. In particular, serviceitems associated with common maintenance tasks (e.g., fluid changes,filter replacement) may be selected, while service items associated withless common maintenance tasks (e.g., vehicle body repairs) may not beselected.

Once selected, the service items may be stored on service racks 200,800, 900, 1000 for use during vehicle maintenance operations asdescribed above. By selecting the parts according to the method 1100,the total number of parts necessary for storage on the service racks200, 800, 900, 1000 may be reduced, which may allow the service racks200, 800, 900, 1000 to store additional parts (e.g., parts for morevehicle models and/or parts to service more types of vehicle maintenancetasks).

Without further elaboration, it is believed that one skilled in the artcan use the preceding description to utilize the claimed inventions totheir fullest extent. The examples and embodiments disclosed herein areto be construed as merely illustrative and not a limitation of the scopeof the present disclosure in any way. It will be apparent to thosehaving skill in the art that changes may be made to the details of theabove-described embodiments without departing from the underlyingprinciples discussed. In other words, various modifications andimprovements of the embodiments specifically disclosed in thedescription above are within the scope of the appended claims. Forexample, any suitable combination of features of the various embodimentsdescribed is contemplated. The scope of the invention is thereforedefined by the following claims.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A service rack system comprising: a service rackcomprising: a front side, a back side, a right side, and a left side,wherein the front side is directly opposite the back side; at least onesupply rack; and at least one return rack; and one or more totescomprising at least a full indicator and a refill indicator, wherein theat least one supply rack is constructed to support one or more columnsof totes, wherein each of the one or more columns of totes includes atleast one tote, and wherein each of the one or more columns of totes isassociated with at least one of a full state or a refill state, the fullstate comprising at least two totes positioned such that the fullindicator of a first tote faces the front side, and the refill statecomprising one tote positioned such that the refill indicator of the onetote is directly adjacent to the front side.
 20. The service rack systemof claim 19, wherein: the at least one supply rack is angled to causetotes located on the at least one supply rack to move towards the frontside; and the at least one return rack is angled to cause totes locatedon the at least one return rack to move towards the back side.
 21. Theservice rack system of claim 19, wherein: the at least one supply rackis further constructed to support at least two rows of totes for each ofthe one or more column of totes; and the full state comprises the atleast two totes positioned in the at least two rows of totes, the firsttote positioned in a front row of the at least two rows of totes. 22.The service rack system of claim 19, wherein: the at least one supplyrack is constructed to support three or more rows of totes for each ofthe one or more totes; and the full state comprises three or more totespositioned in the three or more rows of totes, the three or more totescomprising a front side tote positioned in a front row such that thefull indicator of the front side tote faces the front side, a back sidetote positioned in a back row such that the full indicator of the backside tote faces the back side, and at least one middle tote positionedin at least one middle row such that the full indicator of the at leastone middle tote faces the front side.
 23. The service rack system ofclaim 19, wherein the one or more totes further comprise a labelindicating a service item stored in the one or more totes.
 24. Theservice rack system of claim 23, wherein the label indicates the serviceitem stored in the one or more totes via at least one of text, an image,or a color.
 25. The service rack system of claim 19, wherein the servicerack further comprises a panel on each of the left side and the rightside.
 26. The service rack system of claim 19, wherein the fullindicator comprises a first color and the refill indicator comprises asecond color different than the first color.
 27. The service rack systemof claim 26, wherein the service rack further comprises an opticalsensor configured to determine a color of a surface of the one or moretotes facing the optical sensor.
 28. The service rack system of claim19, wherein the at least one supply rack and the at least one returnrack comprise one or more adjustable rollers.
 29. A service rack systemcomprising: a service rack comprising: a front side, a back side, aright side, and a left side, wherein the front side is directly oppositethe back side; at least one supply rack angled towards the front side;and at least one return rack angled towards the back side; and one ormore totes each comprising at least a full indicator and a refillindicator, wherein the one or more totes are positioned on the at leastone supply rack in one or more columns of totes, wherein each of the oneor more columns of totes includes at least one tote, and wherein the atleast one tote of each of the one or more columns is positioned in oneof a full state or a refill state, the full state comprising at leasttwo totes positioned such that the full indicator of a first tote facesthe front side, and the refill state comprising one tote positioned suchthat the refill indicator of the one tote is directly adjacent to thefront side.
 30. The service rack system of claim 29, wherein the atleast one supply rack and the at least one return rack comprise one ormore adjustable rollers.
 31. The service rack system of claim 29,wherein the full indicator comprises a first color and the refillindicator comprises a second color different than the first color. 32.The service rack system of claim 31, wherein the service rack furthercomprises an optical sensor configured to determine a color of a surfaceof the one or more totes facing the optical sensor.
 33. The service racksystem of claim 32, wherein the optical sensor is further configured tocause the service rack to light up in response to detecting the secondcolor.
 34. The service rack system of claim 29, wherein the one or moretotes further comprise a label indicating a service item stored in theone or more totes.
 35. The service rack system of claim 34, wherein thelabel indicates the service item stored in the one or more totes via atleast one of text, an image, or a color.
 36. The service rack system ofclaim 29, wherein: the at least one supply rack is further constructedto support at least two rows of totes for each of the one or more columnof totes; and the full state comprises the at least two totes positionedin the at least two rows of totes, the first tote positioned in a frontrow of the at least two rows of totes.
 37. The service rack system ofclaim 29, wherein: the at least one supply rack is constructed tosupport three or more rows of totes for each of the one or more totes;and the full state comprises three or more totes positioned in the threeor more rows of totes, the three or more totes comprising a front sidetote positioned in a front row such that the full indicator of the frontside tote faces the front side, a back side tote positioned in a backrow such that the full indicator of the back side tote faces the backside, and at least one middle tote positioned in at least one middle rowsuch that the full indicator of the at least one middle tote faces thefront side.
 38. The service rack system of claim 29, wherein the atleast one supply rack is angled to cause totes located on the at leastone supply rack to move towards the front side and the at least onereturn rack is angled to cause totes located on the at least one returnrack to move towards the back side.